The Jones Falls Valley should be a top candidate for Baltimore’s next bicycle boulevard. In full disclosure, it is the author’s (and others) bicycle commute. Baltimore’s current and only bike boulevard is on Guilford Avenue between 33rd Street and Mt. Royal. A bicycle boulevard is a road shared by vehicles and bicycles, but with features that keep car speeds slow and create safe and comfortable bicycle conditions. A bicycle boulevard is not necessarily wide as the name implies, but does have the boulevard characteristics of being relatively short and not built for speed. A bicycle boulevard is the best prescription when you need cars to be able to share the road, but still want to emphasize bicycle traffic.

Specifically, I am proposing a “bike boulevard” for the stretch of roads paralleling the river from the Jones Falls Trail in Woodberry/Clipper Mill to the Jones Falls Trail road crossing at Round Falls on Falls Road- here after called the Jones Fall Bike Boulevard (JFBB)
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Baltimore's Sun Paper did an investigation in Baltimore's many speed cameras and found much lacking, including proper measurements in some instances. The paper milked the story over weeks and, naturally, government haters are out in full force fretting about the freedom of motorists. Yet, I would locate the real problem on the opposite end of this spectrum: the general lawlessness on our city streets. If the paper is so interested in measurements, it should measure the top speeds people travel on urban streets where kids walk to school. The paper should videotape how many seconds after a light turns yellow cars still race through intersections, how impossible it is to cross on a marked crosswalk (try North Avenue between the two parts of the Coppin campus or in front of the BMA), or how many pedestrians downtown walk blindly across the street no matter what the signal says. Or how at any given downtown intersection cars block it when their lane is congested and create gridlock. Or what percentage of drivers have their hands on phones and texting devices right in front of your eyes, no matter that Maryland law prohibits it.

Essentially we have a culture of anything goes and the police never do a thing about it, presumably “because they have more important things to do”. Given over 200 murders a year (about half of what all of New York City has which is twelve times as large), this sounds plausible. And, of course, the police don’t yield to peds themselves, drive around with broken headlights, their phone on their ears or drive way above the speed limit without lights or sirens being activated.

My take on this is, and this is where it becomes almost an “urban design” topic, that the “broken windows theory” can also be applied to traffic lawlessness. If small things don’t get enforced, then big things start to slide as well. And yes, I know, we need to make sure that enforcement is fair and doesn’t just harass black teens or drag even more people into jail. But if nothing is done, it is difficult to convince people that Baltimore is oh so charming. If it isn’t even safe to drive and walk, let alone bike in the city because ruthless drivers will cut you off, knock you over, incessantly show you the finger and cuss you out, we can’t even begin to talk about violent crime.
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Baltimore, MD – Supporting safe bicycle access throughout the state, Governor Martin O’Malley today announces $44,500 as funding support for the City of Baltimore’s Bicycle Safety Education Program. The Department of Transportation will partner with Bike Maryland’s “Bike Minded Program” to communicate safety awareness throughout the city.

“Whether for tourism, recreation, exercise or commuting, our message is that Maryland roadways welcome bicyclists,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Our State is evolving to include bicycling as a more environmentally beneficial and healthy way of commuting, and to continue those efforts we need bicyclists and drivers to know and follow the basic rules of the road for everyone’s safety.”

The project includes updating, publishing and distributing “Bike Baltimore” maps, which will be available in English and Spanish, hosting workshops on bicycle safety, and organizing outreach by law enforcement. These efforts will not only communicate safety rules to cyclists, but will also alert motorists to the need to drive with caution and share the road. The City of Baltimore will contribute the remaining funding for the $96,800 project.

“Year after year, Baltimore is becoming a more bike friendly city,” said Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “We are grateful for Governor O’Malley’s continued support of our efforts to increase bicycle use and safety, which supports our goal of making Baltimore a more attractive city for families.”

Over the past two years, Baltimore has seen a 40 percent increase in the number of bike commuters. The opening of five new bike shops in the past four years also signals the growth in bicycling popularity. With Charm City Bikeshare scheduled to launch in September 2012 and the Jones Falls Trail opening in 2013, Baltimore can expect even more cyclists on local roads.

The Bicycle Safety Education Program enhancements are funded through the Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP), which funds non-traditional, community-based transportation-related projects. This year Maryland awarded six TEP projects totaling more than $4.1 million. The Governor determines which projects qualify for funding based on need and potential benefit to the public. The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration oversees the federal program, which has awarded more than $206 million for 270 projects in Maryland since the TEP program began in 1991.

I found this rundown enlightening, cyclists seem to have a sense of humor as well as wanting to create a better world to live in. There were some stories that were rather old still making the list which I mostly threw out unless they were still relevant or cute. So Baltimore Spokes top 10 for 2012: